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| Axel Iñigo reacts after scoring a triple in FEU's win over the UE Red Warriors. |
By Ricky Manliguis
PASAY CITY— They're back in their winning ways.
Far Eastern U leaned on a late-game rally to get by
University of the East, 64-61, to stay in contention for the second
twice-to-beat incentive in the first game of the final day of UAAP LXXIX men’s
basketball elimination round Wednesday at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Wendell Comboy sparked a 9-0 fourth quarter run to overturn a
nine-point UE advantage, before Axel Iñigo dropped a three-point bomb with 25
seconds left to take the victory, the defending champions’ ninth in 14 games, while
snapping its three-game losing skid.
The Morayta-based squad, however, will have to wait for the result
of the Ateneo-Adamson clash, being played at presstime, to determine its
seeding in the Final Four.
Comboy scored eight of his 10 points in that pivotal salvo,
including a bucket to tie the ball game at 59, on the 1:26 mark of the period. The
Warriors failed to score from then on, as Iñigo buried the cold-blooded
trifecta for a 64-59 cushion to seal the deal.
Iñigo finished with 16 points on 6-of-7 shooting, with three
trifectas. He also had six rebounds and four assists. Raymar Jose had a
double-double of 11 points and 12 rebounds, while Richard Escoto also had 11 to
go with three boards.
UE, now out of Final Four contention, finished the season with a 3-11 win-loss card. Paul Varilla paced the squad with 13 points, even as Philip Manalang, Renz Palma, and Rey Mark
Acuno all chipped in eight markers.
Boxscores:
FEU 64 — Inigo 16, Jose 11, Escoto 11, Comboy 10, Orizu 8,
Holmqvist 4, Bayquin 3, Tuffin 1, Nunag 0, Trinidad 0, Arong 0, Dennison 0,
Bienes 0.
UE 61 — Varilla 13, Manalang 8, Palma 8, Acuno 8, Bartolome 7,
Batiller 6, Olayon 5, Abanto 2, Pasaol 2, Armenion 2, Charcos 0, Gagate 0.
Quarterscores: 11-20; 34-34; 44-53; 64-61.
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